Streamflow characteristics related to channel geometry of selected streams on the Cumberland Plateau, Tennessee

Several different techniques have been developed to estimate average and peak discharges for ungaged streams using various basin and channel characteristics.

The channel-geometry technique of estimating stream discharge values is based on the relationship between the stream's channel geometry and the discharges that flow through the channel. This relationship is based on the assumption that the stream's discharges can be related to the dimensions of a particular channel form. The active-channel width was used in this study.

In this study, power-function equations were developed to estimate stream discharge values using channel-geometry and stream flow data for 41 streams on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee. The power-function equations were statistically developed using simple- and multiple-regression and structural analyses.

Two groups of power function equations were developed. The first group was developed using the data derived from this study. The second group was developed by imposing exponent values on the active-channel width as proposed by Osterkamp and Hedman (1979).

The results showed that most of the power-function equations derived from the data collected in this study may be used to estimate streamflow values for the ungaged streams on the Cumberland Plateau, but that the equations developed using Osterkamp and Hedman's exponents are invalid for estimating these values. The data also showed that many variables complicate the relationships developed in this study. An evaluation of the data gathering techniques, statistical techniques, and assumptions used in this study has also been made.